Have a Holiday Feast with Kelis

Kelis Rogers, best known as just Kelis, is inviting fans into the kitchen this holiday season!

The “Milkshake” singer has taken her passion for culinary goodness to the Cooking Channel for a fun special called Holiday Feast with Kelis. The show follows Kelis as she hosts a festive holiday dinner for her friends and family.

We got a moment to chat with the gorgeous part-Puerto Rican star to get the scoop on her TV special, her favorite holiday dish, cooking tips, and more.

Read it all in our exclusive interview!

Let’s talk about your Cooking Channel special, Holiday Feast with Kelis.

Well it’s my family and some really good friends. It should be great. What we traditionally grew up eating with some twists and turns, but it should be good. I’m excited!

What were the holidays like growing up?

Everything for us was always food centered. It’s always how can we start preparing for it. My mom was always really good at getting everybody commissioned to do something.

Would you say that your passion for cooking came from her?

Yes. I think I learned in the beginning how to cook and how to love it. Everything is precision and everything else falls beneath that.

How do you infuse both of your cultures into your meals? Do you have a little bit of everything on the table?

It doesn’t have like a full array of stuff. But we’ll make a pernil, a turkey, and we’ll have arroz con gandules, mac and cheese — so it’s a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

Click through for Kelis' secrets to making a perfect pernil…

What’s your secret to a delicious and perfectly cooked pernil?

For me the seasoning is everything without a doubt, and then cooking it is incredible.

What would you say are the best cooking tips that you picked up from your mom?

I learned everything from my mom. I went to culinary school after but I learned how to cook and I learned everything from her. I don’t know that I could pick out one or two things because I didn’t know anything before her.

What’s your favorite holiday dish?

I think pernil is definitely right up there. I love macaroni and cheese, and I love stuffing. Thanksgiving is definitely my favorite meal. I love everything about it.

What’s the one dish you grave from your abuela?

Alcapurria.

The secret ingredient to make a dish pop?

I think it’s always about the colors.

What's your favorite Latin restaurant in the U.S.?

Off the top of my head there’s a place near me called Barra Cora. But, I mean, there’s so many. From Miami to New York, there’s just a million.

Could you name your favorite Latin restaurant in the world?

That’s hard. I haven’t been there in a while but I used to love going to Sofrito. it’s been a while but the food is good.

Your favorite city to eat in?

My favorite city to eat in overall is probably New York.

Why is that?

It’s because there is everything. Literally, you want great Greek food, great Puerto Rican food… You want anything, New York just has it. New York really is a melting pot.

Next, Kelis' shares her favorite food indulgence…

What’s your secret to a perfect dinner party?

My secret to the perfect dinner is the theme. I love a theme. It always makes everything super fun.

Your biggest food indulgence?

I’m indulgent by nature so that’s a hard one. I eat everything

Your favorite vegetable?

Probably broccoli.

Your best food memory?

Some time in culinary school and being able to do traditional Latin dishes and do them at a French culinary style in the mornings. That was fun.

Very cool! What are your ideal breakfast, lunch and dinner?

I love chorizo pretty much any way. I love ricotta pancakes with good bacon and sausage and all that stuff. Lunch is probably dim sum. My perfect dinner is I guess a great steak.

Your favorite Latin cocktail?

I love Morir Sonando. That’s a good breakfast kind of thing, too. On a Sunday, Morir Sonando. I love coquito. Those are probably my two favorites.

Your favorite kitchen gadget?

Definitely my blender.

What music does Kelis' listen to when she cooks? You'll be surprised….

Perfect song to cook to?

I have no idea. I don’t always listen to music when I cook. Sometimes but not always.

What's the most adventurous food that you have eaten?

That’s a hard one. I’ve traveled a lot and eaten a lot of strange things. It was very weird, kind of like bug-looking things but not. They’re from the sea. I had in [them] in Thailand. That was definitely interesting. Not something I’m doing again. It was slimy and not my favorite.

Your favorite fusion?

Probably China-Latina, which you can get in New York a lot. People here in LA are like "That’s so weird" and I’m like "It’s not." Spanish and Asian together is actually a great combo.

Your number one tip for at home cooks?

It’s nice to try other stuff but if you’re new at it, cook what you know. You have to perfect that and put your twist on it and then get fancy.

You had a food truck at South-by-South West last year. Do you plan on opening up a restaurant any time soon?

Yeah, I don’t know how soon but definitely in the next year or so.

Do you have a city in mind? Would it be LA or New York?

It would most likely be LA because this is where I am living.

Is there anything else that you want to share with us today?

Just that I am super excited about this special and it’s been great working on it. I’m launching a sauce line called Feast, and I’m looking forward to that. It should be a good year.

Could you tell us a little bit more about the line?

It’s a sauce line. There’s some traditional stuff in there, and then there’s like wild cherry BBQ, obviously my jerk sauce, and a pineapple sauce. It’s all my favorite flavors and a compilation of things I picked up from traveling and things that I already love and know. A marriage between all of that.